Why You Shouldn’t Use Brass or Steel Rails

Buying railway track? Here’s a great short and simple piece of advice that will let your trains run smoother and mean less work for you.

Here’s a great tip, part of a bigger article on track laying,from Hobbies Plus in Australia. Read the original here.

All metals have an oxide form on them when in contact with the atmosphere. The oxide that forms on nickel silver happens to be electrically conductive, whereas that which forms on steel and brass is not.

What this means is that you will find that trains tend to run erratically on steel and brass rail after a while and you need to clean the rails frequently to overcome this. Using nickel-silver rails means you will have better running trains and less time spent cleaning rails.

So check your track is Nickel-Silver type, the majority of modern track is, for smoother running trains and less cleaning. See other Model Railway Engineertrack tips.